Trials in Tainted Starbound
by N3rdL3tt3r
Summary: A combination of two of my favorite Sci-Fi games: Starbound and Trials in Tainted Space. Read the (mis)adventures of Maia Steele and Rose Schmidt as they try to survive out in the cold reaches of space after the destruction of Earth...and possibly try to have a little fun while doing so. Oh, and enjoy some sarcasm and sass from the author. :3
1. Prologue

Victor Steele, the founder to the massive Steele Tech company, known for their various innovations in technology. Steele was always praised for his contributions to not just human life, but universal life...but he's dead now. Died from some disease or something. I dunno. Not a lot of people could get near him during that time because he was so busy. Anyways, Victor's daughter, Maia Steele, was supposed to inherit his fortune, but she refused, instead going off to a Federation Academy to train to become a Protector. After all, she was always one to stand up for what she believed was right, and could never turn down someone in need.

Well, you're probably wondering what Maia looks like, right? Maia is a half-kaithrit, as her mother was a kaithrit, and her father a human. Kaithrits were a humanoid, cat-like race known for being beautiful, intelligent, and nimble. She has Victor's orange hair, her mother's orange eyes, and the Kaithrits' signature twin tails, both also orange. She also had her mother's pale skin. Her hair was also all over the place, never groomed at all.

She is usually seen wearing a white shirt with a dark blue jacket that had the Steele Tech logo on the left breast. She also wore blue jeans and a pair of black boots.

She was wearing this exact outfit when she slept in her bunk at the Federation Academy, snoring peacefully...that is until her friend, Rose, shook her awake.

Rose was, surprisingly, a Floran. Why do I say surprisingly? Because Florans are known for being quite savage and aggressive, so not a lot of Florans are seen attending the Federation Academy.

Rose wasn't really your typical Floran, however. Like Maia, she is technically half human. Well, more like 1/100. See, her father was human and her mother was a Floran, but female Florans can be parasitic. They can release pheromones to seduce someone of another species into being their mate, and it would lead to a nearly full Floran offspring. I say nearly because, well, you can't really stop genetics.

But luckily, Rose isn't that kind of person, thanks to her father. Rose's mother got arrested after picking a fight with a Glitch in a bar, meaning Rose's father had to raise her. Rose was raised to be kind and caring, almost motherly.

Rose kept shaking Maia, the rose flower in her lime green foliage bobbing. "Come on, Ms. Steele! Wake up!" Rose muttered.

Maia snorted a little as she woke up from her, as usual, pervy dream. "H-huh? Rose? Wha..." Maia mumbled in confusion. Why was Rose waking her up? And why was she already in her uniform?

Rose sighed. "Ms. Steele, have you forgotten what today is?" she asked. Oh shit.

Today was graduation day.

She was supposed to wake up early.

She looked at her alarm. It was 7:55 AM, Earth Time.

The ceremony was in _five minutes_.

"Oh shiiiiiiiit..." Maia said to herself as she stared at the clock.

* * *

Maia swiftly got out of bed, rushing to her locker. She instantly started taking her clothes off as she sprinted, not caring that students were seeing her in her underwear. She used her handprint to unlock her locker and grab her uniform from it, putting it on as fast as she could while sprinting towards the auditorium.

Her uniform was made of latex, so it was quite difficult to put on while running, but somehow, she accomplished it. The blue outfit was skintight. Well, actually the chest area and upper legs were blue, to be precise. The arms and lower legs were black, with the sleeves going down to gold cuffs at the wrist. The Federation logo was proudly displayed on the chest area of the outfit in the same gold color as the outfit's cuffs. The outfit also had a black belt at the hip with a silver magnetic buckle. To finish the outfit off was pretty much the only thing seperate from the actual clothing, which was a pair of glimmering, platinum boots.

Admittedly, Maia had always hated this uniform. It easily got hot, which would lead to her sweating, which would lead to her classmates thinking she never showered, which would lead to her classmates thinking she wasn't a decent being, which would lead to-okay you get the idea. But that wasn't the only factor. Maia was never the fancy or business type, which was another reason she turned down her father's fortune and company. But despite how much she hated this outfit, she _had_ to wear it today for graduation. Otherwise, people watching the ceremony might look at her funny.

Maia checked her watch. 7:59. Just a bit more and she'll make it...aaaaaand...yes! Got there just in time! She was now beside the stage with all the other students graduating. She heard heavy breathing, and turned to see Rose coming up behind her. "W-wow...you're fast..." Rose said, panting like a dog.

Maia just shrugged. "One of the perks of being a Kaithrit, I guess."

Suddenly, the spotlights in the auditorium lit up.

It was time.

* * *

The headmaster of the academy walked onto the stage, beginning his usual drabble. On and on he went about how they're supposed to be defending the universe and upholding the law. Normally, Maia would've been inspired to have heard this stuff...if she hadn't already heard it three times.

Soon, the headmaster started calling the graduates' names, giving them each a matter manipulator and a certificate. Eventually, it was just Maia and Rose...then, Rose went up, accepted her stuff, and then, she was about to calmly walk to the other side of the stage, when suddenly, a rumbling occured.

Was it an earthquake? A tornado? Nobody knew. Well, until tentacles sprung out of the ground and started grabbing people, including Rose and the headmaster.

Maia stared up at the tentacles in horror. What was attacking? WHY was it attacking? She didn't know, and nobody else knew either. But Maia knew what she had to do.

She saw the headmaster's own matter manipulator fall from his belt when a tentacle grabbed him. If matter manipulators could supposedly break apart atoms and store them inside itself...couldn't it be used as a weapon? To destroy these monsters? It had to work. It had to!

Maia made a break for the matter manipulator. Ducking and diving, dodging tentacles that came her way, she grabbed the matter manipulator, and used it on the tentacles holding Rose.

The tentacle dropped Rose, and writhed in agony as it's atoms were ripped apart. The other tentacles had no idea what had happened to their brethren, but they knew it wasn't good, and they were clearly scared. The tentacles let go of the headmaster and all of the students.

It was chaos. Everybody was panicking and screaming. Even the headmaster was curled up in a corner and crying, fearful for his life. Maia was about to leave, when she remembered. Rose. She couldn't just leave Rose behind, there's no way she'd be able to get through all this bullshit! She turned around to see a Rose paralyzed in fear, grabbed her hand, and ran off.

Rose was snapped out of her trance of fear when Maia grabbed her hand and started running. "Wh-where are we going?!" She asked. "To the docking bay. I know where it is. We just need to hurry!" Maia answered.

Suddenly, Maia stopped. A wall of dirt was in their way. Shit...wait. They had matter manipulators, two in fact! Both Maia and Rose concentrated their matter manipulators on the wall of dirt, carving a tunnel through it. They then continued their escape, running as fast as they could.

Maia opened the door to the aquarium on the duo's way to the docking bay, and Maia was faced with a horrible sight...for her anyway.

Water flooded out through the door, nearly washing the two away.

Maia panicked. She never learned how to swim. She had always hated water as a child, and she STILL hated it with a passion. It just felt...weird to be wet...eugh. Maia would've drowned if it wasn't for Rose. Rose swiftly grabbed her hand with almost lightning fast speed. Her arm even seemed to stretch a little.

That's right. Maia remembered. Since Florans were a plant-based species, they were a force to be reckoned with when enhanced by nutrients from water. However, too much water was still bad for Florans, and by the time Rose had gotten Maia out of the water, she collapsed, too weakened to go on. Rose was quite shriveled, like a fleshy being would after being in a hot tub for hours. "Th-thank you..." Maia whispered into Rose's ear as Maia picked her up, carrying her over her shoulder. Maia winced from the pain of carrying another humanoid, but she had to do this. She was not leaving without Rose.

Maia continued onward, only another wall of dirt on the bridge impeding her progress slightly, as well as more tentacles coming after her, which a little help from a sword she found could easily fix.

Maia soon found herself at the docking bay. She sighed, relieved, and smiled. "Finally..." she mumbled. She went on board the nearest ship. She set Rose down by the teleporter to rest. Maia then immediately ran to the cockpit, strapped herself in, and started up the engines.

However, all of a sudden, Maia started hearing something. At first it sounded like Rose was groaning, but then...Maia heard it. Something slithering.

The tentacle monster had gotten to them.

Maia ran back to the teleporter room, and, sure enough, a tentacle had grabbed Rose.

The ship started to lift itself up off the ground.

Maia ran towards Rose.

The ship's thrusters powered up.

Maia got out the sword she had found.

The ship took off, and the tentacle dragged Rose off the ship.

Maia cried out. She had to think quickly. How could she get Rose back? Think...think! Then, she got an idea. It pained her to do this, but...she got out the matter manipulator, and pointed it at Rose. "I'm sorry Rose...this is going to hurt a bit," Maia said. She knew Rose couldn't hear her, but she didn't care. Maia concentrated the matter manipulator's fire on Rose.

Rose screamed, feeling like she was being split in half...which kind of was happening. Being torn apart atom by atom, and being digitized, as well. It was painful. VERY painful. But soon enough, the matter manipulator was fired once again, and Rose appeared out of it.

"Ms. Steele?"

"Yeah?"

"Please don't make me go through that ever again. I beg of you."


	2. Stranded

Rose looked out at space through the window. "Space looks a lot more boring than I thought. It just seems...empty..." She said with a tone of disappointment.

"Well, I _would_ make this ship go faster if I could, but those damn tentacles nearly ripped out the FTL jump drive!" Maia yelled from the cockpit.

Rose looked puzzled. "FTL jump drive?" she asked.

"Basically, I punch in coordinates and we end up at another planet in ten seconds, compared to...who knows how long. Space travel would take a lot longer without an FTL jump drive," Maia explained.

"Huh...you seem to know a lot about ships, Ms. Steele," Rose replied.

"Hey, you can stop it with the 'Ms. Steele' bullcrap. Just call me Maia," Maia yelled from the cockpit.

Rose was quite shocked by Maia's response. "Um...okay, Maia," she replied. "So where are we now?" she asked.

"I dunno. We were able to activate the jump drive for a second even when some of the tentacles were grabbing the ship. But I guess during the jump the tentacles damaged it severely before they were ultimately separated from...whatever kind of monstrosity attacked the Academy," Maia replied. As she looked at the console, Rose commented on the monster attack.

"I've never even heard of a creature like that being on Earth...I've heard of octopi, but they're much smaller, aren't they?" Rose asked.

"Yeah. There's no way that could've been an octopus. Someone must've brought that thing to Earth," Maia replied. As she finished talking, she heard a sputter come from the ship.

"Wh-what's going on?!" Rose yelled as she panicked. Suddenly, the ship stopped, and it hovered over a green and blue planet. Maia sighed and got up. She walked to Rose, who was in the main room.

"Guess the tentacles did a number on the engine. It's dead," Maia answered grimly. Suddenly, the S.A.I.L. console next to them lit up. "About time..." Maia growled. She walked up to the S.A.I.L. console.

A 3D model appeared on the screen. Funny enough, it was of a Kaithrat. It looked like a ship captain. She had a black and white captain's hat, with the black part being the cap of the hat. She had pale skin like Maia and had icey blue eyes, matching her blue hair. Her outfit perfectly matched her hat, mainly being white, but having a black trim and black gloves that reached up to half of her humerus. The outfit showed off her cleavage well, which made both Maia and Rose blush a bit.

Maia wondered why a Kaithrit S.A.I.L. was managing the ship. Yet again, as she looked around, the ship did look like it was from Rosha. Like most Kaithrit ships, it seemed almost...alive. Like Maia and Rose were two twins inside a mother's womb, waiting to be born.

Why did the Academy have a Kaithrit ship? Maia didn't know and didn't care. She just wanted to find a way to get help, or maybe even repair the ship.

"S.A.I.L., what's the status of the engine?"

"The engines are severely damaged. It is recommended that you repair them as soon as possible."

"What about the FTL jump drive?"

"The FTL jump drive is severely damaged as well."

Maia sighed. Shit. This was _not_ good. But then Maia got an idea, and asked for the integrity of one more device on the ship.

"What about the teleporter?"

"The teleporter is operational, Miss," S.A.I.L. replied. Yes! Maybe they could get help on the planet below!

Maia smiled. "Thank you, S.A.I.L." She then turned to Rose. "Come on, let's go. We'll find help on the planet below," She said. Suddenly, S.A.I.L. yelled for them. "Wait!" The A.I. yelled. Maia and Rose turned to face the console. "Please look in the locker. There should be a flashlight and a communicator." S.A.I.L. explained. "The communicator will allow you to talk to me, and discuss with me matters that may require any extensive knowledge. Being a computer, I can search for any kind of information you need. Also, just say the word and I can beam you two back up here. Just make sure you're not indoors," S.A.I.L. continued. Maia nodded and walked to the ship's locker. She opened it up to find a flashlight and an ear-piece communicator, just as S.A.I.L. had mentioned. Maia put the ear-piece in her cat-like, Kaithrit ears, and hooked the flashlight to the belt on her suit. "All right, let's go," Maia said with a slight smile. Maia and Rose walked onto the teleporter. The two then beamed down to the planet below.

* * *

The minute that Maia and Rose beamed down, they looked around. Maia frowned. "Doesn't look inhabited..." She grimaced. Maia then shook her head. "We only just beamed down. I bet there's a village or town somewhere, maybe even a city," She said. Rose nodded and followed Maia, who had started walking east.

As Rose and Maia walked eastward, all of a sudden, Maia heard S.A.I.L. talking to her through the ear-piece.

"Maia, I sense aggressive life-forms ahead. They are not hostile, but could quickly become hostile if you are not careful. Be cautious, and if you choose diplomacy, choose your words wisely," S.A.I.L. informed her. Maia nodded.

Rose looked puzzled. "What did S.A.I.L. say?" she asked.

"All you need to know is that there are some easily provoked people ahead. Could be natives. Let's hope they know Intergalactic Basic..." Maia answered. The two continued on ahead. As they walked, buildings started coming into view, and Maia and Rose were in awe.

Ahead of them was an entire village that lived in trees. There were some huts here and there on the ground made out of bamboo, but that was just a minority. Most of the houses were either on top of a tree or [i]were[/i] a tree. The roofs of all of the houses were made out of thatch. The residents of this village seemed to have made some kind of plant equivalent of a street lamp, using long, bendable branches with leaves tied to the end. The leaves were tied in a way as if they were to contain something, and it seemed they were, as the leaves gave off a strange glow, even in the middle of the day, probably from glowing bugs in the leaves.

The true spectacle of the village, however, was the gigantic tree house in the middle. One might mistake it for an actual tree if it wasn't for the wooden door at the base and the thatch roof. Also, this tree was huge! It must've been at least 400 feet high! Higher than even the redwood trees Maia and Rose saw on Earth! Maia and Rose just stood in awe at the marvel of the village, as the native Florans looked at them in confusion, fear, and some even in anger.

Maia and Rose snapped out of their daze, and looked at the residents. They were all Florans, wearing leaves for clothing. Some just wore loinclothes made out of leaves, yet there were also those who wore entire dresses made out of leaves.

Maia suddenly felt something on her leg. A little Floran boy was biting her leg. Because his razor sharp teeth had not grown in yet, it didn't really bother Maia. Maia looked around at all the Florans, while Rose hid behind her. Why Rose was hiding, Maia didn't know. Maybe she just didn't like the aggressive nature of primitive Florans? Who knows. As Maia looked at all the natives, she asked, "Is there anyone here who can speak Intergalactic Basic? Or at least a translator?" The natives just looked at Maia, puzzled. She sighed. "Can anyone here speak what we speak?" She asked again. The Florans started talking amongst themselves, until one Floran lady wearing what seemed to be a coat and pants made out of leaves, with a quiver also made out of leaves, started running to the big tree in the center of the village.

The Floran woman came back with an old Floran woman, seemingly the leader of the village if the crown of leaves atop her head had anything to say. Unlike the other Florans, she seemed very calm and serene, almost graceful. Although, she seemed like she was reaching her end, as well. She was hunched over, like a flower wilting, and her skin had turned brown, her eyes white as snow. However, her long, flowing, white hair made of leaves suggests that she may have been quite beautiful once. She also wore a green dress made of thousands of leaves. The dress was long and flowing like her hair, and seemed very ceremonial. Sunlight almost seemed to reflect off of the leaves.

The old Floran woman was quite short, and had to look up at Maia in order to address her. "Well, it'sss been quite a while sssince anyone has visssited usss...what bringsss you two here?" The old Floran woman asked. Rose whimpered a bit. She had been found.

"Now, now, young lady. Do not worry. You can come out," the old Floran woman said reassuringly. Rose slowly came out from behind Maia. The moment she did so, Florans started yelling, some going inside their houses. The old Floran woman shouted at all of them, yelling, "Synna an-su kyshoeh! Synna soran!" The moment the old Floran woman yelled, everyone stopped. But Rose could tell. All of their eyes were on her.

Maia was confused. "What was that about?" she asked. The old woman sighed. "Mossst Floransss aren't very fond of Floransss who grew up without a tribe like oursss. They're consssidered traitorsss to all of Florankind," she explained, then smiled. "But you don't need to worry about that with me. With my experience I've learned a lot of thingsss...including mercy," she continued. Maia bowed. "Thank you, Miss...?"

"Lily,"

"Thank you, Miss Lily,"

Lily nodded, but then a serious look crossed her face. "You didn't anssswer my quessstion, however. Why are you here?" She asked. Maia then explained the situation to Lily, telling her everything from the incident at the Academy to the ship breaking down above the planet.

"My...that'sss horrible...ssso many innocent livesss mussst have been lossst that day," Lily grimaced, shaking her head. She then looked back up at Maia. "We don't have a way to repair your ssship, but we do have a way for you to make contact with other ssspace dwellersss. They could help you repair your ssship," Lily explained. Maia was elated. It was at least something! But then she heard the words.

"However...we have a little problem of our own,"

OF COURSE. OF _FUCKING_ COURSE. EVERY VILLAGE HAS TO HAVE SOME GOD DAMN PROBLEM.

Maia sighed. "What is it?"

A frown crossed Lily's face. "Sssome Kui-tansss ssset up a camp north of here, near our sssacred groundsss. At firssst, we didn't mind. We thought they would eventually jussst leave and move on. However, now they've ssstarted mining into the very mountain that we consider sssacred," she explained.

Uh-oh. This was going to be tough. Kui-tans were known through out the galaxy for being tricksters. They bore a resemblance to a creature found on Earth known as a tanuki, except they were bipedal and had appossable thumbs. That's pretty much all Maia knew about them. But even with that little amount of knowledge, Maia knew that Kui-tans were not to be taken lightly. However, she and Rose had to get their ship repaired.

"Okay, we'll take care of it," Maia replied. Lily smiled. "Thank you," she replied. Maia turned to face Rose. "Come on, let's go," Maia commanded. Rose slowly nodded and followed Maia.

"You do realize that we probably won't be able to diplomatically handle this, right Maia?"

"Yup."

"And you do realize that we don't have any weapons, right?"

"Uh-huh."

"And that we'll likely be captured and you'll be held for ransom?"

"Yeah."

"So don't you think we should go back and ask for some weapons from the Florans? In case we need to defend ourselves?"

Maia turned to face Rose. "Rose, I don't just walk in through the front door," Maia said with a smirk.

"I prefer sabotage~"

It was now night, and Maia & Rose had arrived at what seemed to be the Kui-tans' camp. The two hid behind one of their crates as two male Kui-tans chatted around a campfire.

"Heh, we really found some good shit, huh Maro?"

"Yeah, we really did. Found some gold, iron...even a few diamonds! Not only that, but if we infuse the iron with oil, we could make some steel and get a total profit off of it!"

Both of them laughed, concocting ideas on what to do with the loot. All of a sudden, Rose stood up and yelled.

"HEY!"

The two Kui-tans turned towards Rose. "Well, well. One of the natives," one of them slurred. Oh god, they were drunk. Maia sighed and got up, looking at the Kui-tans.

"Look, we don't mean any trouble, all right? We just need you to stop digging into this mountain. The nearby Florans consider this mountain sacred, and don't want you pillaging it," Maia explained.

"What if we don't wanna?" One of the Kui-tans said, giggling like a child. Maia sighed. She hated it when people played this kind of game with her.

"Then I'll _make you_!" She yelled. She ran and socked one of the Kui-tans, knocking him out cold. The other Kui-tan immediately grabbed Maia, and looked _very_ pissed off.

"You looking for a fight? Because you just got one, _missy_!" the Kui-tan said, anger clearly in his tone. Maia struggled, but was helpless against the Kui-tan's strong grip. The Kui-tan looked Maia up and down, then grinned. "Ya know...you're kinda pretty...let's say we have some fun~" the Kui-tan said with a chuckle.

Maia's eyes widened. Maia tried to struggle more as the Kui-tan stripped her, but it was still useless...that is until one of her tails hit him in the face. "Ow! You _bitch_!" The Kui-tan yelled, then slapped Maia. But Maia didn't care. She now had an idea.

Maia looked over the Kui-tan. He was just wearing a vest and jeans. However, he had a blaster strapped to the side of his jeans. Maia carefully used her tails to sneakily grab the gun...then shot the Kui-tan in the side! The Kui-tan let go of Maia and was blasted away. He layed on the ground, covering his wound. Maia walked over, and mercilessly finished the Kui-tan off by shooting him in the head.

During this whole event, Rose had just stood by, paralyzed by fear, and she was shocked at what Maia just did. "M-Maia..." Rose stammered. "Y-you...I can't believe you just _killed_ him!"

"Hey, at least I only knocked out the other one,"

"BUT YOU JUST KILLED HIM!"

Maia sighed. "You better get used to it. Not everyone is going to be friendly like at the Academy. There will be situations were we have to kill people," Maia explained. "Now let's go," She continued. "We better tie this other guy up before he wakes up, and explore this cavern. There may be more of them down there."

Maia and Rose entered the cave, and used their matter manipulators to get some vines to tie up the unconscious Kui-tan with. The vines were very sturdy. There was no way that he was going to get out of them. Maia and Rose then explored the cave further. Luckily, they didn't find anyone else, but they did occasionally encounter hostile native aliens. The two soon enough reached the bottom of the mine, and _wow_ , no wonder those Kui-tans were so reluctant to leave! They had found a _jackpot_! Everywhere Maia and Rose looked, there was iron, gold, silver...even a few diamonds! They were VERY excited. But then they remembered. This was sacred land to the Florans. They couldn't mine here. They sighed and climbed back up out of the mine.

As they came back, the previously unconscious Kui-tan was coming to, and struggling against his bonds. The Kui-tan noticed his dead companion, and his eyes widened in fear. He struggled more and more to no avail as Maia and Rose walked over. Maia looked down at the tied up Kui-tan. She remembered that this Kui-tan's name was "Maro" from the conversation the two were having earlier. He was clearly afraid.

"Look, here's how this is going to work-" Maia started, but was interrupted by Rose.

"Maia, we shouldn't intimidate him! Look how scared he is already!" Rose insisted. Maia sighed.

"Fine. I'll let you do the talking," Maia replied, rolling her eyes. She moved back as Rose moved in front of Maro. Rose put on a reassuring smile...which is quite hard to do with the Florans' mouth, which basically had their teeth on the corners of their lips...or mouth...I don't really know if they have lips. Look, point is, a Floran's mouth is pretty scary, and their smile is usually creepy, but Rose's smile was full of kindness and love.

"Look, we promise we won't hurt you, Mister...?" Rose reassured Maro as she asked for his name.

"M-Maro...just call me Maro..." Maro replied.

"Okay, Mr. Maro!" Rose gleefully replied. "Can you make us a promise?" Rose looked up at the sky. "Two promises, actually," she corrected herself. "If you keep those promises, we'll let you go and you can do whatever else you want, okay?" Rose said with her cheerful and reassuring smile again.

Maro seemed to calm down a little. "O-okay..." he said, smiling a little.

"Promise us you'll stop digging into the mountain, okay Mr. Maro?" Rose asked. Maro nodded.

"And promise us we can stay the night in your tent, okay?" Rose asked. Maro nodded again. "Thank you!~" Rose said, cheerful as always.

As Rose untied Maro, Maia whispered in her ear, "Are you sure we can trust him? Kui-tans are born tricksters, after all..."

Rose looked back at Maia as she continued to untie Maro. "That may be true, but my dad told me that he always knew a Kui-tan to keep promises and deals as well!" Rose reassured Maia.

Maia sighed. "If you say so..."

As promised, Maro stopped digging into the sacred mountain, and allowed Maia and Rose to sleep in his old companion's tent. In the morning, Maro packed his things beamed up to his ship, and left. Meanwhile, Maia and Rose set off back to the Floran village, and assured everyone that the Kui-tans wouldn't be digging into the mountain anymore, telling them everything that happened. The Florans cheered. Lily walked through the crowd surrounding Maia and Rose. "On behalf of the village, we thank you, space dwellers. Now, as promised, I will help you make contact with other space dwellers. Follow me," She said. Rose and Maia did indeed follow her. The three went to the eastern edge of the village. There was a strange gate there. It was built from mysterious stone with engravings carved into it. There were monoliths with...something inside lighting them up. The monoliths were seemingly made out of the same stone. Stairs led up to an arch and console, both also made out of the same mysterious stone.

"We believe that this is a gate leading to some other village, clearly more advanced than ours. However, we do not know how to work it. Occasionally, space dwellers such as you come into our village through that gate. I believe you can use it to get some help," Lily explained. Rose hugged her. "Thank you!" She exclaimed. Lily was taken aback, but smiled all the same, and rubbed Rose's back. "Your welcome, my child. Know that here, you are never a traitor to the Florans. I hope that other Florans you encounter on your travels think of you the same way I have," Lily reassured Rose. Rose let go of Lily, smiling, then Lily walked back to the village. Rose and Maia looked up at the gate.

"Well, let's go," Maia said. The two walked up the stairs to the console. "Let's see..." Maia pondered to herself. She tapped the console's screen with a single finger, and it instantly powered up. It had a purple interface, and the platform that Rose and Maia were standing on that was connected to the console lit up as well, and was also purple. Suddenly, Maia heard S.A.I.L. talking to her.

"Miss Steele. You have an incoming transmission from...it doesn't say," S.A.I.L. explained. Maia was confused, but shook it off. Who knows how far away Maia was from any advanced civilization that was contacting her. "Patch them through, S.A.I.L." Maia commanded. Soon, Maia heard a voice.

"Oh thank the Ancients! I finally found someone! You must come quickly! It's urgent! Go through the gate!" said a feminine voice. That's all Maia heard before the message ended.

Rose looked puzzled. "What was that about?" she asked.

"Just got a message from someone asking for our help. Apparently we can meet her by going through this gate," Maia explained. "We just have to figure out how this thing works..." Maia said as she fiddled with the console. Soon enough, Maia had no idea what she did, but before she knew it, Rose and Maia were being beamed up. But not to the ship...When Rose and Maia appeared after travelling, ahead they could see...some kind of outpost.

Maia got another message, once again asking S.A.I.L. to play it for her. "Please come meet me! I'm just beyond the outpost you see ahead! Hurry!" the message said. Maia nodded, and told Rose what the message said. Then, the two friends walked east, towards the outpost.


End file.
